In the time-honored tradition of Freaky Friday and Big, Asatte no Houkou is a tale of people suddenly changing ages. Unlike these precursors, Asatte no Houkou takes itself seriously, which can be both a good and a bad thing. As a basic premise, there’s a lot that can be done with giving a child a grown-up body, or putting an adult in a child’s body. The obvious stuff has already been done to death.
This week saw the premiere of both anime series I was looking forward to this fall, Pumpkin Scissors and 009-1. The first episode of Pumpkin Scissors was fansubbed within 48 hours of airing, so I’ll skip making a first-episode commentary on it. 009-1, on the other hand. Wow.
This show has a lot going on miniskirt-wearing super-spies, elderly scientists in distress, smirky cold-war villains, a super-spy lunar base, big red buttons that must not be pushed, uniformed goons getting their butts kicked, laser guns, explosions, bigger explosions, and even somebody with machine guns hidden in her boobs.
This all may be a bit much for some folks to handle. These aren’t the clichés that many younger views are accustomed to. These are the stylistic themes of the cold war era, and appropriately-so. The East Bloc versus West Bloc cloak and dagger premise here is ladled on with a bit of a heavy hand, and the art hearkens directly back to the anime being produced back in the 1960’s. Indeed, the character designs and concepts here are the product of the great Shotaro Ishinomori, creator of Cyborg 009 and Kamen Rider. If you liked Giant Robo’s character designs, used to watch Speed Racer, Tranzor-Z, Starblazers, and the like, 009-1 may be right up your alley.
One episode is hardly enough to judge a series, but I certainly intend to keep watching this, and look forward to seeing an English-subtitled version of this (as my Japanese is terrible, worse than terrible, terrible-plus).
After twenty-six episodes and six plot-arcs, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni has wound down its anime run, but what do we leave it with? In an industry chock-full of sub-genres, such as macho fighting anime, harem romantic comedy anime, brooding emo anime, silly slapstick comedy, giant robots, war stories, and so forth, this title fit into to no category neatly.
This final plot arc, the Tsumihoroboshi-hen or Atonement Chapter, reveals a great deal, but leaves a lot of rather fundamental questions unanswered. This was anything but a clean break, with all the loose ends neatly tied off for us. Unlike the Eye Opening Chapter that immediately preceded it, this “answer arc” does not re-tell a prior plot arc, but turns it on its head.
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